Around the Diamond – Twins 6, O’s 5
Around the Diamond
40,000+ showed up for the first night game of the 2013 season – a nice showing. Too bad the Birds couldn’t send them home happy.
First Base
I have to start out positive, or I’ll end up crying. Let’s start with T.J. MacFarland. Nice ML debut, rook. He struck out 5, and showed why the organization has taken such pains to hang on to him. MacFarland won’t light up the radar gun, but he’s got good size, and can show you a couple of different looks with his arm angle. He may be the long man in the ‘pen we’ve been looking for – he was pretty impressive tonight.
Second Base
Chris Davis went from hero to goat. Davis flashed the kind of leather that got him relegated to DH last season. All reports are that Davis has worked very hard on his defense this year, so I suppose I shouldn’t pile on after one bad game at first. Still, it’s a very cringe-worthy error, and it literally cost the team the game tonight.
Third Base
WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO RUN ON MATT WIETERS?!?! Seriously, don’t do it. Wieters gunned out two runners tonight. I just don’t understand… not even Chuck Norris tries to run on him.
Home Plate
The starting pitching is not impressive at all so far. Chris Tillman came off the DL tonight, and only lasted 3.2 innings (and 93 pitches). That’s simply not going to get it done. On the broadcast, Palmer said his mechanics were off, which caused him to fly open in his delivery. Whatever is going on, he needs to figure it out.The O’s may not have stars in the wings, but they do have plenty of depth. At some point, Buck will not accept ineffectiveness for long.
Summary
Ugh. Early lead, pitching woes, a comeback, and a deflating loss. This game had it all – unless you were looking for win. Look, I know we’ll never see a bullpen like the 2012 Buckle Up season, but if the Orioles are going to make noise in the AL East this year, the bullpen has got to hold a few leads. It would be nice to rack up wins against the Twins before heading to Boston.